Tapenade: A Cal-Med Oasis in LA’s Little Osaka

Chef Ressul Rassallat’s Tapenade is an outlier in Little Osaka, a Mediterranean kitchen in a neighborhood best known for serious Japanese cooking. But don’t overlook it just because it seems out of place, bulavinaka says on Chowhound. Rassallat’s food at Tapenade is an interesting mix of Californian and European influences. High marks for the eggplant caviar appetizer with tomato concassé (pictured), and juicy grilled squid with beans, tomato, and chorizo. Skilled cooking was evident in seared sea bass with fennel and capers, and in lamb agnolotti with truffle sauce. “I hope this place gains more attention,” bulavinaka says.